Why the Handgun will Remain the Primary, Even During SHTF

There is no denying that, if we have the choice, a long gun completely outclasses a pistol for actually stopping threats, be they two or four legged.  A shotgun reigns supreme in decisiveness within its performance envelope, and the rifle can dominate a far more extensive plain.  The pistol has only one advantage over long guns; concealability.  However, this advantage, for many applications, far outweighs the disadvantages as compared to the ballistic power and hit potential of long guns. 

There seems to be the notion that the handgun is the primary of the armed citizen while the sun shines on our republic and society is functional, but as soon as the lights go out, literally or figuratively, the long gun, particularly the rifle, will become the tool of defense and survival beyond any other.  I vocally disagree with this assessment.  All men who consider themselves citizens rather than subjects should own and know how to use a modern rifle.  There is no denying that.  Should the worst come to pass, we want that tool at the ready.  However, even during social collapse, I propose that the concealed pistol remains the most important weapon.

Picture what a long-term collapse looks like.  Is it a Mad Max-like world with loincloth wearing bikers roving the countryside and ravaging the other survivors?  Could be.  But here is what is far more likely:

Society collapses for an unspecified amount of time and you are on your own.  There is no dialing 911 (not that there is now in many places) and the criminal element that has always been present, simmering below the surface, is now completely emboldened.  Kind of like San Francisco, Portland, and other blue hell holes, but worse.  There is no law enforcement, so criminals have no fear of consequences. 

Even if you live in a rural environment, during a prolong collapsed, ask yourself, what are you going to be spending most of your waking hours doing?  If you said, “roaming patrol with your rifle,” you would be wrong.  You will be working.  You will be growing food, splitting wood, fixing buildings, tilling the earth.  That is what you will be doing, in an effort to feed you and yours.  There is nothing at all sexy about such dystopian scenarios.  Ask yourself, will you be splitting wood or hoeing your garden with your rifle slung and your body armor on?

No, you won’t.  And when the likely threat, in the form of two local violent criminal actors (not a hoard of cannibalistic bikers as in the movies) shows up standing behind you because you did not even see or here them as you were busy trying to plant crops so you don’t starve to death, you will not be wearing your rifle.  If you are a rifle lover who despises that pistol because it is so much harder to shoot than your rifle, then, at that moment, you will wish you had your rifle, which is twenty yards away leaning against a tree, because why the hell would you be wearing that puny pistol when you took your AR15 along with you to the field?  Except, there are two monsters standing ten feet away and your rifle is over there, under the tree.

See how that might work?  If it comes to that, be practical: Have the rifle nearby, but have your pistol, concealed, on person, as the primary defensive tool, and that is what you will great the monsters with.  Sure, maybe it will be a matter of “using the pistol only to fight your way to the rifle,” a saying that I truly hate, but if you actually practice with your pistol, you probably won’t need the rifle by the time you get to it. 

Yes, own and train with a rifle.  However, as unpopular as it may be to say it, the pistol is the primary defensive weapon of anyone not actively in a theater of war and wearing a uniform.  Wear your pistol, wear it concealed, and continue to do so no matter if society is functioning or collapsed.  Keep the rifle near, but the handgun stays on. 

Live fire practice is essential. To buy the ammo that I use for training at the best possible price, go to:

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